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Sevencore Updated Review

Sevencore is a traditional MMORPG with a large emphasis on mounts. It is being brought to us by Webzen, after having been originally released by gPotato back in 2012. The game is PVP-focused and has a plethora of mounts for players to raise, ride, and battle with. Already, not long after launch, Webzen has released one major content update for the game. Sevencore seems like it has what it needs to be fun, so let’s take a closer look.

Customization

Sevencore has your typical traditional themepark MMORPG customization. You choose a gender, a race, a class, and then fine-tune your looks. Right now, there are three races to choose from. Each has its own unique look and race-specific bonuses. For example, The Scion have a critical-hit chance bonus and a bonus for using mech-based mounts. The three races are the Scion, which look like your basic humans; The Einher, who are big bulky (the males, at least) and have horns; And the Nuuk, which could be confused for elves from other games.

Race and gender have nothing to do with what classes are available to you, so you won’t feel restricted. However, there are only four classes to choose from: Warrior, Gunner, Mage, and Assassin. The names are self-explanatory of what they can do. Each class appears to be capable of going down two different paths. For example, my Gunner can focus on dual pistols that shoot fast, or a heavy artillery weapon that fires much slower but packs a bigger punch. Like I’ve said, this isn’t really anything new to the gaming market; these class archetypes and talent trees are things we’ve seen before. They are well done in Sevencore, however.

As for actually designing a character, it’s what we’ve come to expect from an MMORPG. Personally, I’m a bit spoiled from newer games, so I wasn’t impressed with what was available in Sevencore. There are some pre-set faces and hairstyles to choose from, and a palette you can make use of for skin and hair color. However, there are a bunch of sliders you can use to customize things like chest size, neck length, and head size. So, while there isn’t an absurd amount of options, there are still plenty of ways of making your character different. Personally, I gave my character no neck, very short arms, and long legs.

Graphics

Sevencore won’t be winning any awards in the graphics department. It is very much a game that shows its age. That’s not all bad, though. This means that people with older machines shouldn’t have any issue running the game. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t find a certain charm in some of the in-game steampunk designs.

Overall, though, I was not impressed. Cities were sparse and simply didn’t feel like cities. Smaller towns and camps suffered the same problem. After playing ArcheAge and Elder Scrolls Online, games tend to feel bleak in comparison when it comes to their city designs. There were some places (usually with the steampunk theme) that stood out in my memory, but not many. If I could go back in time and stress one thing to the developers, it would be to spend more time on the looks of the game.

Controls

Controls were decent. I never had a problem, everything was smooth and responsive. Sevencore has your typical MMORPG control scheme, so if you’ve ever played an MMORPG in the past five to ten years, you’re probably going to be familiar with Sevencore in no-time. This is both a good thing and a bad thing – good because it’s always nice when a game is easy to pick-up, but bad because that means there’s nothing new or innovative in how the game is played (in terms of controls).

Community

Sevencore has a fairly small community at the moment. In the newbie zone, I ran into a small handful of other players. The community seems to be split between non-English speakers and English speakers. This wasn’t much of a problem for me, but it may turn others off. I had no problem finding groups for things, though it did take longer than I would have liked in some cases.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Sevencore follows the traditional themepark MMO Formula, with some variations. Sure, there’s a lot of annoying and repetitive quests, but there’s also mounts you can get, level up, and use in combat. Some of these are beasts, some are mechs. Some can even fly. Honestly, the game reminds me of an out-dated Black Gold, but with some neat opportunities for PVP.

The mount system in Sevencore is the games major draw. It’s the games schtick, or gimmick. If you’re thinking about playing Sevencore, it’s more than likely because you are interested in what the game has to offer in terms of mount content. What sets Sevencore apart from other games with pet systems is how invested the entirety of the gameplay is when it comes to the mounts. The mount system is also a major enticement to use the cash shop.

There are growth tokens that will automatically upgrade a mount to your level (which bypasses the mindless grinding that would normally be required to level your mount). There’s also renewal tickets, energy boost tickets, and even a box that will give a random “Special” mount which comes with bonuses to stats and abilities. Mounts can also be used for a sort of AFK grinding, as you can set your pet to automatically attack nearby enemies. And, much like for players, there is an auto-heal system involved. They can also auto-loot and even an auto-collect features for mounts, so you can see how important the mounts end up becoming for every aspect of the game.

The combat in the game is your typical themepark MMORPG affair. Point-and-click and activate various abilities using the 1 to = keys on your keyboard. You’ll need to manage your health and mana as you go. Speaking of those, the game relies heavily on food and potions, going so far as to provide a feature to automatically consume them when your HP or mana get to a certain point that is set by you. Instead of the usual fantasy stuff, though, you’ll be chowing on hamburgers while chugging cola (At least during the earlier levels… You can buy more advanced potions and elixirs from the cash shop).

I have the most experience as a Gunner, and I’m pleased with the feel of the combat. It didn’t blow me away, but it did keep me content while I played. It has a certain fluidity to it that a lot of these older F2P themeparks fail to have. That’s not to say that it isn’t frustrating at times; it definitely did annoy me more than once. But, in the end, while I don’t think the combat will impress many, I’m sure most people won’t complain.

If you’ve ever read any of my reviews, you know I don’t like repetitive questing that follows the typical and traditional F2P Themepark MMORPG formula. That is, half-assed paragraph of story, go kill X of Y, and then return for the reward. Generally, if you are having me do hundreds of these “go off and get/kill/collect X” type quest, I’m not going to have a good time. And I assume it’s the same for a majority of other players, judging by how much complaining I see on game forums. Well, Sevencore follows this formula to a T for the leveling process. So a big NOPE from me there.

PVP seems to mainly consist of open-world PVP in the PVP channel. Each zone has multiple channels you can choose from and one of those is PVP. There are some more late-game PVP features such as the “Occupation” system, where guilds can take controls of zones on the world map. So far as I can tell, this Occupation system is reserved for high-level, end-game players and guilds.

Crafting is a tiny bit more interesting than what you may find in other games. It’s very similar, but there is some stuff that differentiates it from the rest. Such as the crafting talent tree. But in general, the system consists of gathering materials (usually by killing things) and then talking to an appropriate NPC to open the craft interface. It’s a simple recipe system. Of course, there’s also a crafting system that will essentially require cash shop purchases to ensure your items aren’t turned to junk.

Conclusion

Sevencore isn’t a game that I will continue to play now that the review is over. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean YOU shouldn’t play it. While I don’t like the lower quality graphics or repetitive questing, you may be able to push through it and enjoy the late-game PVP and Mounted content. Or you might have to push through it, as you are using an older machine that can’t run many 3D games (lots of us have been there at some point in our life). So, while I didn’t have the greatest time, I can see there is some charm to be found in Sevencore and I won’t tell you to avoid it.

Features: 3/5 – Mounts and PVP content saved the day!

Customization: 3/5 – More would be nice.

Graphics: 3/5 – I liked some of the design, but over-all low quality.

Controls: 4/5 – Smooth and easy to pick-up.

Community: 3/5 – Currently small and a majority are non-English speaking.

Overall: 3/5 – A very average game with a neat mounted-combat gimmick.